Bits and pieces of my life. I am a lifelong Christian. I have been married for over 39 years to Stan. No children. We have 3 Italian Greyhounds: Persephone, Dresden & Capodimonte and a calico cat named Binky. We have 9 nieces/nephews and 9 grandnieces/nephews whom we love. My hobbies are genealogy, reading, digital scrapbooking, history, dogs, homemaking. This is a personal blog and not a business. I share what interests me and I am not selling anything or making a profit.

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..........Contact me at Mom25dogs@gmail.com.........

Saturday, September 26, 2009

This was a great horror story about the Loch Ness Monster. Marine biologist Zachary Wallace nearly drowned in the Loch as a child but he buried the memories. Now back in Scotland to try to help his estranged father, Angus Wallace, prove his innocence in a murder trial, Zach has to remember that day he nearly drowned. He has to face his fears and find out what is lurking in the Loch.

I really enjoyed this book and found it appropriate for anyone over 14 yrs old. Although it is considered a horror novel, it wasn't that bad.

California Bureau of Investigation agent Kathryn Dance, a kinesics expert, is called on to capture Daniel Pell. Pell was accused of slaughtering of a wealthy family and was in prison. Now being accused of killing another, he is transferred and manages to escape. Kathryn has to match wits with someone as evil as Charles Manson and his followers.

This was a good read and I enjoyed it! I would recommend it for anyone over 14 yrs old.

The "Ghost" is an Oriental immigrant smuggler. He takes the immigrant's money to bring them to America but mysteriously his latest smugglees are being murdered. Rhyme and Sachs are determined to capture the "Ghost". With several twists Rhyme and Sachs do just that!

After reading In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, I was interested in this book because it occurred in the same area, Olathe, Kansas. Olathe (pronounced Oh-Lay-thuh) was close to where the famous 1959 Clutter family crime happened. In 1982, another crime occurs in Olathe.

David and Melinda Harmon were living in Olathe, KS when their story begins. This young married couple were making their way. Melinda's father, Dr. Lambert, was high up in the Church of the Nazarene hierarchy. The Nazarene church headquarters had moved nearby and is the reason why this story happens in Olathe. David got a job at Patron's Bank with the help of Dr. Lambert, who also helped Melinda get a job for a dean at the Nazarene college. One of the students was Mark Mangelsdorf who started spending a lot of time with Melinda and then the couple.The 3 young people were inseparable friends.

Then Melinda came to the door of her duplex neighbors one night to say David had been attacked and killed and she had been attacked and knocked out. Her father, Dr. Lambert, stepped in and kept the investigation from going forward and it became a cold case for 20 years. Melinda remarried and had children, living in a Ohio suburb. Mark became a high profile corporate executive.

Marek Fuchs tells the story. Honestly, I didn't find his writing particularly good. The story should have been fascinating but it simply wasn't. And, if his book is true, I don't know how the prosecutors put two people in prison. Didn't seem like there was any evidence.

I recently saw the movie, In Cold Blood, starring Robert Blake as Perry Smith.It intrigued me to read Capote's book. After I started, I couldn't put it down. And Robert Blake played Perry Smith superbly. That was good casting! I could easily see Blake as Smith.

The well-to-do Clutter family lived on a lonely farm in Holcombe, Kansas, not far from Olathe, Kansas. By 1959, Herbert Clutter had built his life and his farm with careful thought and had made a good living at it. He and his wife had 4 children, 3 girls and 1 son. The two older daughters had left home to start their lives leaving Nancy and Kenyon at home. The two teenagers were very popular in their community and the family was well respected. Mr. Clutter had hired men to help him and had always treated them well according to those he employed. But one man made the mistake of mentioning the wealthy family and the remote location of their farm to some fellow convicts when he was incarcerated. Perry Smith and Dick Hickock made plans to rob this family.

So goes the sad story that is In Cold Blood. Capote and his friend, Harper Lee, went to Holcomb, KS after the crime was committed. They took thousands of notes after interviewing all involved. It took Truman Capote 6 years to write the book. This book was evidently one of the first of it's type although, today, we are used to nonfiction true crime novels. I would also say it's one of the best. He explores the psychology of the criminals and details the life of the family and community and how it was effected. He easily moves between the criminals and the family and the community members.

The only thing I missed were photographs so I will provide them here:The family

Thomas Kelly and Melissa Hames married and had a son named..Jamison G. Kelly who married C. Elizabeth Free and they had a son named....A. Silas Kelly who married Leila Fowler and they had a daughter named......Kathryn Elizabeth Kelly (aka Katherine Elizabeth Kelly, Kate Kelly) who married William Edward Cohen (aka Will Cohen) and they had a daughter named........Mabel Louise Cohen who married Clyde Harris and they had a son named..........William Clyde Harris (aka Billy Harris) who married Peggy Annette Prince and they had a son named............STAN!

Thomas Kelly was born 12/9/1784 in Virginia. He may be Thomas Norman Kelly, Sr. because I saw him referred to as Thomas Kelly, Sr. in the 1850 Slave Census. His son Thomas Norman Kelly may be T.N. Kelly, Jr. aka Thomas N. Kelly, Jr..

Thomas Kelly, Sr. sold 233 acres in 1850 in Kelton, Union County, SC to Joseph Kelly (his son) for $1,200 and was recorded 6 August 1866. He was a Planter in Pinckney Township, Union County, SC.

Thomas Kelly died on 28 Feb 1866 at the age of 81 in Union County, SC. Thomas was buried in Kelly Cemetery, Union County, SC. He was a Planter/Farmer in Kelton Town, Union County, SC. There is a family tradition that two Kelly brothers came from Ireland to Virginia and Thomas (presumably a son or grandson of one of those two brothers) came on to South Carolina. The area now known as the Kelly or Kelton section of Union County is said to have been settled by Scotch-Irish settlers who came from southeastern Virginia to settle near Brown's Creek. The 96th District and Union County in particular experienced a substantial influx of settlers in the first decades of the 19th century. It seems likely, therefore, that he came to Union County from Virginia in the decade prior to 1820 when he would have been in his late twenties or early thirties. Thomas Kelly first appears as a head of household in the U. S. Census records for Union County in 1820. His absence from the record in 1810 when he would have been 26 years of age suggests that he arrived in Union County between 1810 and 1820. Kelly's land would appear to have been just north and west of the intersection of the road from Unionville to Pinckneyville with a second road cutting north to an alternate crossing of the Broad River at Howel’s Ferry. In 1858, a town at that intersection, named Kelton, opened its post office. The town was named from after the Kelly's and is sometimes referred to as Kelly Town or just the Kelly community. In 1860, the record shows that Thomas Kelly, Sr.'s son and namesake, Thomas N. Kelly, Jr., was the town's postmaster. The little intersection in the road called Kelton used to have several businesses there. It was incorporated but when it didn't grow after 30 years, it was unincorporated.

Thomas Kelly first married Rebecca Gault on 4 May 1809. They had 2 children before Rebecca Gault Kelly died about 1816 in Union County, SC.

3) Mary Kelly (DOB About 1832 in Union County, SC; DOD About 1914 in South Carolina)

Thomas Kelly died 2/18/1866 in Union County, SC. Melissa Hames Kelly died in Jun, 1880. Thomas Kelly is buried at the Kelly family cemetery and she is probably buried there too but there is no tombstone for her.

Monday, September 21, 2009

I found some of the neatest ideas on how to decorate your birdbath. Or use bird baths in decorating your home. Even using pieces of birdbaths. I did a Google search and found these great ideas on using bird baths in unusual ways.

Elaine, Ronnie, Melinda, Lee and I got to go down to Charleston to visit with Jenny, Kyle and Brett on Friday. It took me 2 days to get over the trip. Three hours one way and three hours back. But seeing Brett was worth it. And Kyle got to tell us about his deployment and showed us pictures. We had a really good visit! Here are some of the pictures that Melinda took.